The Way
Searching the Scriptures Every Day
People who opened the Scriptures every day
Story
The group came to Thessalonica. As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and for three Sabbaths he explained the Scriptures. Paul said, “The Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. This Jesus I am telling you about is the Christ.” Some Jews believed, along with many Greeks and quite a few leading women.
But some Jews grew jealous. They gathered troublemakers from the marketplace, threw the city into an uproar, and rushed to the house of Jason, who had welcomed the group. When they could not find Paul and Silas, they dragged Jason before the city officials. They shouted, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too!” That night the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea.
The people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica. They received the word eagerly and searched the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Many of them believed. But the Jews from Thessalonica followed and stirred up the crowds, so the brothers sent Paul off to the coast, while Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea. For a long time afterward, Paul worried about the church in Thessalonica he had left so suddenly.
Walk this scene on the map →Words of the Lord and of Paul
The Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. This Jesus I am telling you about is the Christ.
The people of Berea received the word eagerly and searched the Scriptures every day to see if it was really so.
Brothers, we were separated from you for a short time, in person but not in heart, and we tried very hard to see your faces.
The sayings are fresh renderings of the original meaning in today's language. Text: Acts 17:1–15
Background
Thessalonica was the capital of Macedonia, a port city on the Via Egnatia, the great Roman road. Today it is Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece. Berea was a town at the foot of the mountains to its southwest.
Pause and Reflect
Even with words I have heard many times, do I open the Bible and check them?